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Food Society, Darlinghurst

It was time for Rain and I to catch up over delicious food again. We have a common love for exploring the restaurants in the Darlinghurst area and when asked where our dinner should be this time, I suggested Food Society which has been on my to-eat list for the longest time because of their infamous fried cauliflower.

As soon as I entered the large restaurant, I fell in love with its decor. It had a home-style Eastern European feel to it, with wooden tables and mismatched chairs. The restaurant was dimly lit with candles and flowers on each table, adding to the relaxed vibe. The waiters looked the cutest in their red and white collared shirts, matched with a little bow tie each.

Rain and I took a while to decide on what to eat as the menu was vast. There were reasonably-priced set menus which Rain had tried on a previous visit, so we decided to go a la carte this time around. I also love menus that are designed to be share as it means we can try a greater variety of food, just as a foodie does!

We decided to skip the drinks tonight as this was a not-so-deserved break (for me anyway) from our uni work and we had plans to go home and resume studying after our dinner.

The first to come was the Crisp burek cigar, spinach, mushroom and marjoram cream. I enjoyed the contrasting textures of the cigar which was so delicate, with the creaminess of the mushroom and spinach.

Next, it was the signature fried cauliflower with paprika, parsley, watercress and reduced red wine vinegar. Okay, this I absolutely loved! It was even better than I had expected. The cauliflower was encased in a crunchy, thin batter that was sweet and slightly sticky with the added tang of the reduced vinegar.

We had to wait a while for our mains and the first to come was Goulash ‘society style’, slow braised beef cheek with flour dumplings and paprika sauce. The beef cheek was tender and the sauce was rich and spicy. We were both a bit confused about the flour dumplings as it was bland and tasted very much like a Chinese steamed bun. Nevertheless, it was great to mop the leftover sauce with, while Rain left hers unfinished to save stomach space for the upcoming food.

Then came the grilled cuttlefish on squid ink risotto, parmesan and salt baked cherry tomatoes which was a dish that I was looking forward to trying. Rain mentioned that it was so delicious that her friend ate most of it on their previous visit. The dish looked very appetising as I loved the contrast of parmesan on the black risotto. Unfortunately, Rain and I both found the dish to be extremely salty, to the extent that it was unpalatable. This was a shame as Rain was certain that it wasn’t this salty the last time she tried this dish. I don’t do this often, but we had to return this dish to the kitchen. The waiter was really nice about it and offered to either remake it for us or take it off our bill. We chose the latter as we were both feeling a bit full by now and wanted to try more of their desserts. We noticed that other tables also left most of the risotto untouched. I am pretty sure it was just a one-off occasion where the chef was a bit heavy-handed with the salt, I will give this dish another chance if I return as I really wanted to eat more of it. The cuttlefish and cherry tomatoes were perfect though!

Given that we didn’t have much of our second main, we let ourselves indulge in two desserts. We didn’t know what to expect when we ordered the signature ‘pashka’ with strawberry compote. It was like a deconstructed, fluffy cheesecake topped with macadamia crumble and strawberry compote. It wasn’t overly sweet and we loved it.

Our second dessert was Chocolate ganache with chocolate mousse, white chocolate ice cream and bitter tuille. Again, this was one of the desserts that Rain had tried on her previous visit and wanted to eat again. It was a beautiful dessert with components that went so well together. My favourite was the chocolate mousse which was rich in flavour but light in texture.

Overall, it was another heart-warming catch up with Rain over a very enjoyable dinner that I was fully recharged and resumed study as soon as I reached home. Thank you, Rain. Thank you, Food Society.